Travel – Page 19

Paris – The View from Galeries Lafayette Haussmann and Lunch at Maison de Chengdu (Yet Again)

January 27, 2024 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Chinese Restaurants, France, Paris, France, Travel

I really didn't want it to end; but here it was, our last day in Paris. We decided to spend our last morning doing what we've done so many times in the City of Light. I went to the corner Boulangerie, of which there were three and had a croissant at the apartment. And then we headed on over to Rue Montorgueil and had our Cafe Allonge at Café du Centre like we've done so many times.

No, it's not about the coffee really. Even the caffeine snob…the Missus loves this. It's about watching life walk past you and breathing in the city.

It's not unusual for us to spend an hour or more here.

Café du Centre
57 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

And of course, once we were done, we headed off….well, with no goal in mind, just to do that Flâneur thing. Which brought us to the Passage des Panoramas.

Where we could do that "other" thing we'd really embraced called lèche-vitrine ("licking windows" i.e. window shopping).

As we exited the passage I had an idea. Since we were close to Galeries Lafayette, why don't we head on over. Now we had already seen the holiday displays earlier during our stay, which were admittedly a bit strange this time around. But there was one other thing I'd always meant to do at Galeries Lafayette and I thought since it was a pretty nice day, this would a good time.

So we headed on over and entered the store.

And headed on up to the rooftop terrace, where you get great views of Montmartre.

And the Eiffel Tower.

We enjoyed the view!

Soon it was time to get some lunch. We decided to stay around the apartment and just go back to Maison de Chengdu. We had enjoyed this simple Sichuan restaurant a block from the apartment so much that we had already eaten there twice.

We were seated upstairs this time.

This time around it was a three-out-of-three. We got our two favorite dishes from our previous visits, the Intestine Dry Pot and Green Beans with pork. Both were just as good as on previous visits.

You can read about those dishes in my previous posts on Maison de Chengdu.

The "new" dish was the Sautéed Mountain Yam, what I call yamaimo.

Whoa, in spite of the underwhelming look of the dish, this was quite good. The slippery mountain yam had achieved a bit of sweetness when stirfried. Yes, it was slippery, slimy, but quite nice with the earthy-sweet wood ear. It was so simple, yet quite satisfying.

Looking back, I think we were quite lucky to have selected where we stayed. Heck, our favorite simple, straight-forward Sichuan restaurant was a block away. And yes, the dishes we had here were better than the Sichuan in San Diego. Isn't that sad?

Maison De Chengdu (古味成都)
16 Rue Volta
75003 Paris, France

Paris – Dinner at Automne

January 26, 2024 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, France, French Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Paris, France, Travel

Our time in Paris was winding down. We had two more evenings left. The Missus had enjoyed dining at a Boullion on the last night of our previous stay, so we thought we'd do that again. So, on the second to the last night, I thought we'd go with a fancier meal. I mentioned having made reservations at the Michelin Star Automne in an earlier post and then having it cancelled. On the bright side, we ended up having dinner at Les Enfants Rouge that evening, which has become a favorite of ours. I did still want to dine at Automne and on this visit I made a reservation for this evening. The restaurant is in the 11th Arrondissement, about a kilometer and a half from our apartment. We had a nice stroll on over. Like many of our preferred fine dining restaurants in Paris, the restaurant was helmed by a Japanese Chef.

We we greeted upon arrival and escorted to a nice quiet corner table. For dinner we selected the 7 course tasting menu and shared a wine tasting.

The pacing was relaxed, very low keyed. Of course things started with the amuse bouche.

Which I recall being delicious, but I got seriously distracted.

By what, you might say. Well, we had one of those wonderful "Paris moments". You know us and pooches. We saw the cutest furry pooch walking down the street. He looked like he was smiling and there was something about he and his owner that caught my eye. I brought out my camera to take a photo and wouldn't you know it. The woman saw me pointing the camera their way. Now, if you would believe those Paris stereotypes, you'd think that we'd be in store for some rudeness. But, like what has happened to us many times before, we had a moment. The woman smiled and waved and brought the pooch over to take their photo.

It was such a sweet moment! When I went and downloaded the photos I realized what had caught my attention. You know that folks say people start looking like their dogs……. What do you think? It's one of those unforgettable moments. The Missus and I talk about this encounter more often than we chat about the Louvre!

Anyway, on with the meal.

First up was a terrine with Smoked Eel and Foie Gras.

I wasn't sure about this dish at first glance; but it was quite good, the rich foie gras paired nicely with the smoked-savory-eel. The balsamic glaze and beets added sweetness to really help balance things out. The radish was slightly pungent which helped to reset the palate between bites.

The Scallops with Osetra Caviar was quite decadent.

I thought the scallops could be seared a bit more, but it was perfect rare, sweet-oceany, the caviar adding an interesting layer of flavor that was almost like intense walnut? The shavings of hazelnut added another layer of earthy-nuttiness to the dish.

The next dish featured, black truffle, wild game bisque, and a salsifis timbale.

The bisque was a bit too much and overpowered the dish. But of course, we could minimize the exposure and enjoy the truffle and salsifis. This also had really earthy and savory pied blue mushrooms.

The line caught sea bass was cooked to perfection.

Crispy skin, moist and flaky, the sauces, broccoli, rapini, and one that seemed like a mild foam with hints of lime all added a different dimension to the dish.

The Roasted Venison was cooked to a perfect doneness for me.

Nice mild gaminess, the one item that was amazing in this dish were the mushrooms. I was told it's called Trompette de la Mort "trumpets of death"! Also known as black chanterelles. My goodness, the sweet-nutty-earthiness was amazing.

The Poached Pear with Cocoa Tuile was not overly sweet.

And all in all, this was a fine meal.

One of many that we've had in Paris over the years!

Automne
11 Rue Richard Lenoir
75011 Paris, France

Taipei – Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Fan Tuan Ba (飯糰霸), and Another Pork Chop

January 13, 2024 mmm-yoso Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

After dinner at Din Tai Fung we strolled around the Xinyi area a bit before heading back to the hotel. As we headed further down Xinyi Road we came upon Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park and the imposing Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

We walked up the 89 stairs, which represents Chiang Kai-shek's age at the time of his death.

A statue of Chiang Kai-shek resides in the hall.

And from the hall you can get a nice view of Liberty Square. With the National Concert Hall on one side.

And the National Theatre on the other.

We took a quick peek in the hall, before the doors started closing at 6pm.

We then made our way back to the hotel and had a nice night of sleep.

Our train the next morning wasn't leaving until 1145, staying right across the street from Taipei Main Station had its benefits as we could go out and explore a bit more. Also, we'd be returning Sky 19 Hotel so they were kind enough to store our excess luggage.

While walking close to the 2/28 Peace Memorial Park, which I posted on earlier, we came across this tiny coffee shop.

And we got our caffeine fix for the morning.

壹咖啡
No. 76 Huaining St.
Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100

Right around the corner from the hotel, the Missus stopped and exclaimed "oooohh, fan tuan"! Which cracked me up….you see, when Sammy would get a bit chubby, we'd call him "fan tuan", basically "glutinous rice ball".

But this place really made fan tuan. We thought it would be nice to have one on our three hour train ride. Of course there was a line.

But lines in Taiwan move fast and the two guys making fan tuan were super fast….no wasted motion here.

The version the Missus got had a soy sauce egg, crisp nicely sour pickled veggies, and crunchy egg roll wrappers, in a nice, tight toothsome rice ball.

It was quite filling. Well, I finally got a fan tuan!

Fan Tuan Ba (飯糰霸)
No. 2號 Xuchang St.
Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100

And since I needed my pork chop fix, we got a Train Bento at the station as well!

Man was I enjoying Taiwan!

Next stop, Hualien!

Paris – Bercy Village, Kodawari Ramen Tsukiji Revisited, and Takumi Patisserie

January 6, 2024 mmm-yoso Bakery, Desserts, France, Japanese Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

It was a winter Sunday morning in Paris and after my morning croissants we had to decide what to do for the day. We had already spent nearly two weeks in Paris and the Missus was getting fidgety and really needed different stuff to do each day. So, I thought that Paris might be pretty crowded on this day, so why not head out to Bercy Village, formerly wine storehouses the area was converted into a "shopping village" in 2001. It was just a 15 minute metro ride from Chatelet to Cour Saint-Émilion. Plus, we'd never really visited the 12th Arrondissement.

It was an easy walk to the Village.

It was a nice paved, pedestrian street. Surprisingly quiet for a Saturday morning.

We'd arrived just before most of the shops opened, at about 945. And just strolled up and down the courtyard. The Missus explored some shops, but didn't find anything of interest. There were quite a few chains represented; Sephora, Five Guys, Nicholas, etc. I'm thinking this must be nice for locals, but it was not very interesting for us. Except for a few things.

There is a really nice park right across the street from the mall and we really enjoyed our walk there.

Then we decided to head on back. While on the metro, the Missus decided that She wanted the ramen from Kodawari Tsukiji again. The Pyramides stop was just one further from Chatelet.

The shop still had open seats in this most interesting seafood market themed ramen shop….

Not being too hungry, we got the Sea Bream Tatare.

Loved the shiso in this dish as it added a nice palate cleansing mintiness to the dish. The fish was tender; the rice a bit mushy, but the beany-sweet miso and shiso tones carried the dish.

Like on our previous visit; we got the Sea Bream Paitan Ramen.

And any doubts about the Missus having truly enjoying this on our previous visit was erased as She loved it just as before. Maybe She is ready to have niboshi ramen again on our next visit to Japan! The broth as a bit richer this time around, the noodles slippery with a nice chew. As you can see, that tamago was perfect and still warm….you know my pet peeve regarding cold eggs. The sea bream was tender and we finished the entire bowl…again.

Looks like the Missus has Her favorite ramen spot in Paris now!

Kodawari Ramen Tsukiji
12 Rue de Richelieu
75001 Paris, France

The Missus wanted something for Her "tea time" and I thought that perhaps getting some Japanese Cheesecake might fit the bill. It would also be interesting to see how that measured up in Paris. And since we were in the area of the city dubbed "Little Tokyo", I thought it might be fun. I had a place named Takumi Patisserie on my list which was close by on Rue des Pyramides, so we headed on over.

There's quite a selection here. The young man working was really friendly as well.

The Missus inquired about the cheesecakes and then decided upon Her "test". She asked about how "jiggly" the cheesecake was. Apparently, the young man was ready for this as he brought out a cheesecake and proceeded to show us how it jiggled like a true Japanese cheesecake. The Missus was sold. So we bought one. And when it became le goûter (tea time) the cheesecake was presented.

So, this was bit sweeter and more dense than what is preferred for Japanese Cheesecake. It wasn't bad. And…….when I tried to wiggle it around; it didn't do the "jiggle". Hmmmm. To this day, the Missus and I joke about seeing that jiggling demonstration at the shop. We think they have a "stunt cheesecake" on hand to show folks!

Takumi Patisserie
29 Rue des Pyramides
75001 Paris, France

Honolulu – Fort Ruger Market a Quarter Century Later

January 4, 2024 mmm-yoso Honolulu, Markets & Grocers, Oahu, Poke, Seafood, Travel

The Missus and I were looking at some of my old photo albums and flipped the page to my third grade class photo. I started cracking up and the Missus gave me a quizzical look. I then pointed something out to Her. All the boys were wearing long pants (no shorts were allowed in those days), Aloha Shirts (after all, it as class photo day), the girls Mumu's, but…….most of us were barefoot! I explained to the Missus that until the fifth grade, many of us actually did walk to school barefoot (though not uphill both ways). I mean this was the late 60's, early 70's, and things were different then. Plus, as I mentioned in my post on my "old neighborhood", Ali'iolani Elementary was just a block away from where we lived.

And this kinda brings me forward to this post. On our last trip back "home", the Missus asked me when I first remember having poke. We had just finished doing some stuffs at Ala Moana and I decided to show Her. Way back, when I was in the 5th or 6th grade, my Mom had an appointment in the Fort Ruger area. I was raised by a single parent and my Mom never ever drove, so we had to catch the Ruger bus and I waited while my Mom did her thing. After the appointment, we walked over to Ruger Market, and that's where I first remember having poke I really liked, over 50 years ago! I'd probably had it before; of course during the holidays there was sashimi and stuff, but I remembered the poke from Ruger Market clearly. Later, when I was older, my friends and I would drive on over after going to Cromwell's (I can't believe the cove is still around, though maybe not for long) and grab some poke, then go for a drive around Diamond Head Road and eat at the lookout or hele on over to Kapiolani Park or Paki Park and grind there.

So, we drove on over….and heck, I hadn't been to Ruger Market since before I left the islands; which would be over 25 years, but the place looks pretty much the same.

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Though it's more of a seafood- Filipino/Hawaiian restaurant these days. When I was growing up, this was the neighborhood grocery for the area.

Different grades of Ahi is available, you can get poke made with pre-frozen Ahi (nah) or with fresh Ahi, what is called "Auction Fresh Ahi" on the sign.

You know what we got, right?

We'd already had some small stuffs to eat at Foodland Farms and this was a kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing, so we didn't go too crazy. We got one poke bowl, with brown rice, the chicharrons looked really good, so we got that, and also some boiled peanuts.

And then we headed off…..just like those hanabuddah days, I drove around Diamond Head Road to the lookout.

You can find the Amelia Earhart Plaque here as well.

As well as the "best seat in the house"….at least on this day.

And the local "security detail".

We headed on down and found parking and a table at Kapiolani Park and proceeded to dig in.

I was surprised to find that the kimchi was decent; not overly fermented, but still quite refreshing. The brown rice added a nice nuttiness to the bowl. The quality of the fish was good; tender and buttery in texture without connective tissue. We preferred the restrained, classic, soy-saltiness, with a hint of oceany sweetness of the Local Style Ahi. The Spicy Shoyu wasn't very spicy and was a bit on the salty side. Still, the quality and prep was way above anything here in San Diego.

The Chicharron was as good as it looked.

Crisp, with a slight crunch; porky and savory, which just enough salt. Talk about a guilty pleasure.

As for the boiled peanuts, well, the Missus was saving them for later. Though this little fella tried to make a move on the legume.

The Missus loves Her boiled peanuts, so he didn't stand a chance!

It was good to know that Ruger Market still makes decent poke.

The older I get, the more I treasure and appreciate those times and the chances I get to reflect on them. And it was wonderful to share a bowl of memories with the Missus.

Fort Ruger Market
3585 Alohea Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

And I also want to thank you for sharing in those memories with me! Thanks for stopping by!

Taipei – Din Tai Fung, the Original Location (Xinyi Road)

December 27, 2023 mmm-yoso Chains, Chinese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel, Xiao Long Bao

We were a bit sad to be leaving Chiayi. We'd had such a fun time, wonderful people….and that turkey rice! But it was time to move on. We made good time on our return to Taipei. I picked interesting accommodation in Taipei. Since we had upcoming travel and staying in the vicinity of Taipei Main Station would be beneficial; I elected to stay at Sky 19 Hotel as it was right along an exit of Taipei Main Station….we really never figured the Main Station out, but the locale was great. The "hotel" was actually located on a single floor (the 19th of course) of a high rise. It was actually a great location for us. We were staying in Taipei for 1 night before heading to our next destination, then returning two nights later.

So, here we were back in Taipei when the question arose, "what's for dinner"? Actually, we had kinda planned things out. We had always wanted to dine at the original location of Din Tai Fung and this was our opportunity. So, we walked to Xinyi, and got to the original DTF on Xinyi Road.

And of course, this being Taiwan, there was a line. Which in this case is a good thing!

We checked in and provided our cell phone number; we'd be called when there was a table available and went for a walk.

After a bit we returned and even though we hadn't been called, when the Missus asked, we were told that there was a table available.

Img DTF xinyi

As with all the locations of DTF I've been to; you can watch dumplings being made.

This shop has multiple floors and we were seated on the third floor.

The service was very efficient and professional, without being "stuffy". You are provided with a order sheet which you fill out and hand to the Server.

There is actually an "instruction card" on each table with directions, in 3 languages no less, on how to devour your XLB.

In the blink of an eye, a little dish of soy sauce-vinegar and ginger is provided. The Missus also requested some black vinegar which was provided as well.

Soon enough our dishes started arriving. We had really been enjoying the veggies in Taiwan; it's usually perfectly blanched and simply flavored. I've always loved Warabi/Pohole back home in Hawaii, so when I saw stir fried Bird's Nest Fern on the menu, I just had to have some.

For me, when it comes to fern shoots and such, it's mostly about the texture and these did not disappoint. So tender; a mild sweetness, lightly seasoned with soy and a bit of garlic. Man, this was so good. From this point on, I'd make sure to order this if I saw it on a menu.

Speaking of having to order something……well, like the Missus said regarding my fondness of a certain cut of swine in Taiwan, "you didn't meet a pork chop you didn't like." And the version here was no different.

Nicely seasoned; just enough soy-five spice-white pepper, with a mild sweetness. A slight crispness, nice pork flavors. Yes, the streak continued.

And then our first XLB arrived, the version with Green Squash and Shrimp.

First thing I noticed was how delicate the wrappers were; quite light. The filling had a mild "crunch" to it courtesy of the shrimp, along with a slight briney-sweetness from said crustacean. Just on its own, it tasted a bit lacking in the sodium department; but that's what the soy-vinegar-ginger condiment was for.

The wrappers for the Spicy Pork and Vegetable won tons were equally as delicate and light.

They've really got a handle on creating a pork filling here; it's very tender, just perfect amount of flavoring to add a touch of savory and sweetness, which highlights the oinkiness of the filling. That spicy sauce was a bit too mild for us…probably because we're used to Sichuan ma-la. Still, this was quite good.

Then the pièce de résistance arrived; the Pork Xiao Long Bao and I've got to say, in my opinion, the "DTF reputation" is totally earned.

I thought the wrapper looked a bit thick; but it was soft and delicate. The filling had a wonderful pork flavor and was quite tender. The dumplings were very "juicy", the soup wonderfully flavored. These were easily the equal of the amazing Guan Tang Baozi in terms of wrapper and seasoning, but possibly a step above in refinement. It's certainly the best XLB I've had to date.

Last up was the Crab Roe and Pork XLB.

Same wonderful wrapper, tender filling, perhaps a bit on the sweeter side, and less "juicy".

In the end, the food was wonderful, though we'd definitely go with the "OG" pork XLB all the way. The Service was efficient, and we had a memorable meal. I'm sure we'll be hitting up DTF whenever we're in Taipei in the future.

Din Tai Fung Xinyi Restaurant
No. 194號 Xinyi Rd.
Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106

After dinner we wandered around the area a bit; then took a nice leisurely walk back to the hotel. We'd be heading to Hualien the next day; but not before exploring a bit more.

Thanks for stopping by!

Strasbourg – Scenes from the Christmas Markets

December 24, 2023 mmm-yoso Alsace, Festivals & Events, France, Travel

**** Not much food in this post. Quite a few photos from the always colorful Christmas Markets in Strasbourg though.

I did an earlier post on our visit to Strasbourg and walking around Petit France. We actually spent a good deal of time enjoying the Christmas Markets during our two evening and one day stay. I thought I'd just do a single post as more of a photolog.

We had really enjoyed our visit to Strasbourg way back in the winter of 2017. We especially loved the Christmas Markets, lively, with everyone in a joyful frame of mind, we found it to be a relaxing change of pace from Paris. And at night, the place looked so beautiful and enchanting. We found it no less so on this trip.

From the wonderfully decorated streets to what seems an endless supply of Christmas ornaments, the 13 Christmas Markets in Grande Île just bring out the kid in me.

And at night, the Grande Île comes alive.

Our first evening was spent enjoying the markets, especially the window displays. And of course we had to get the Missus Her Choucroute.

Sadly, all the photos of the food….I believe it was the lighting around the eating area, caused my photos to turn out looking like this!

As I detailed earlier, we spent the next morning checking out Petit France. Of course we passed thru several Christmas Markets along the way. Each market seemed to have a theme and several had folks "in character" to make things even more fun.

We stopped by a booth at Place du Temple Neuf and got some Truffle Risotto.

Then headed two blocks away to bustling Place Broglie.

And went back to the same stand as the night before.

Where the Missus got Spaetzles à la Choucroute et Aux Lardons, which She thoroughly enjoyed.

I got a Tarte Flambée from a nearby stand.

And as always, we enjoyed people watching.

IMG_4584_02

We then headed back to hotel to rest up.

When evening arose, we headed back out.

Again enjoying the colors and booths.

We made our way via a now familiar route.

To colorful Place Kléber which is considered by many to be Strasbourg's central square. The Christmas tree in the square always garners your attention.

At this point, we had to decide on what to get for dinner. After two meals of choucroute, the Missus decided that some Asian food might be really good on this chilly evening, which is when we headed to Lamian.

Like on our previous visits; I've always loved the Christmas Markets in Strasbourg. Though there's much more to see. You can click on these links if you'd like to see and read about Strasbourg Cathedral and Petit France.

I'm sure we'll return if we are in France from the last week of November onward.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays!

Paris – Aux Crus de Bourgogne Revisited

December 23, 2023 mmm-yoso France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

After our surprisingly enjoyable meal at Aux Crus de Bourgogne, a place that we had walked past countless times thinking it was a tourist restaurant, I made reservations to return for dinner. This took us past our favorite street in Paris, Rue Montorgueil, which I've written about countless times already.

During this visit, the street had been declared "Rue des Bulles" ("Bubble Street") for the season. Every year, Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne House declares a Rue des Bulles and the street is decorated in balloons that resemble champagne bubbles.

IMG_4919a

It makes an already lively street seem even more festive.

IMG_4919b

No matter how many times you've walked down a street, there always seems to be something you never noticed before.

IMG_4923b

We walked up to Rue Bachaumont and presented at the restaurant. One thing we quickly noticed was that the menu had changed since our last visit and several of the items we enjoyed last time were not available.

The place filled quite quickly……folks seemed to be really getting pretty large meals.

Of course, things started with the baguette with rillette, which the Missus enjoys.

We enjoyed the Vol-au-Vent with mushrooms the last time so we ordered the Bouchee a la Reine, which is basically vol-au-vent with poultry.

We had previously enjoyed the mushroom dishes here, but for some reason this dish was really weak in mushroom flavor and the chicken was super dry. The vol-au-vent was still good though; crisp and buttery.

The Missus enjoyed the Escargot as She did before.

And we got even more baguette for sopping up all that garlicky goodness.

Because we had eaten so much for lunch, we ordered one main to share. We ordered the Sweetbreads and Mushrooms. The mains come with one side and we got the green beans. We weren't prepared for the monstrosity that arrived.

The sauce for the mushrooms were wonderfully flavored, but very gloppy and pasty in texture. The veal sweetbread was massive, dry, tough, and very metallic.

The green beans were undercooked, hard, and in need to more salt.

The service was very prompt and professional.

Well, this was not quite what we expected based on our previous meal. It seems that the menu changes from day to day. Based on this meal, the Missus and I decided that we'd need to see the menu before committing to a meal here. So in the future, since we're usually close by, we'll check out what's being served first.

Aux Crus de Bourgogne
3 Rue Bachaumont
75002 Paris, France

Still, we enjoyed the walk and the always lively Rue Montorgueil.

Paris – L’Éclair de Génie and Fondue 9

December 22, 2023 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Desserts, France, Paris, France, Travel

Man, the first ten days of our two week stay in Paris just seemed to fly by. At least for me. On this bright, but chilly Saturday morning, we decided just to do the flâneur thing as we headed down Rue Vieille du Temple. We found a couple of shops that caught our attention.

And had fun browsing…….

Man, I want to find an English edition of this book…..

Right across the street was a lovely park and garden.

This is the Jardin de l'Hôtel Salé.

Further down the street is a large community center; the Halle des Blancs Manteaux. Since it was Christmas season, there was a large craft fair going on.

We had a fun time exploring.

We made our way down to Rue Rivoli and saw this Eclair shop on Rue Pavée.

The Missus had been wanting to try some elcairs so we headed on in.

There was quite a collection of beautiful looking eclairs.

After some hemming and hawing, the Missus made Her selection.

And we headed on back to the apartment.

L’Éclair de Génie
14 Rue Pavée
75004 Paris, France

After storing our purchases, we gave some thought to lunch. For some reason, we felt pretty cold on this day. I mentioned a hot pot place we'd seen on Rue Saint-Denis a few days before. Hot pot sounded like just what we needed, so we headed off to Fondue 9.

The restaurant seemed a bit tiny, until we realized that there was dining upstairs as well. Can you imagine carrying hot pot up and down stairs….one false move! We also noticed that the customers during our visit were all Chinese, a bit of change since we'd seen pretty much a 50-50 mix during our visits to various Asian restaurants in the city.

After checking out the menu; we decided on the "lunch special".

After which we headed straight on over to the condiment bar to get our "stuffs".

Not much in terms of spicy sauces and no fermented bean curd. And we started to worry that the hot pot was going to be a bust.

But as our Yin Yang hot pot made it's way to the table we knew this was going to be ok. You could smell the herbs and spice.

Lots of white pepper.

All the usual suspects arrived.

Even frozen tofu! The noodles were quite stretchy.

The tripe was a bit too tough; though the seiche; the cuttlefish was surprisingly tender.

What was most surprising of all was the fish, which had been nicely velveted and rubbed with chili oil.

It was wonderfully buttery and tender after a brief swim in the broth.

The meat were of good quality; especially the lamb, which was so gamey and tender.

This was quite a satisfying meal for us. We had found a solution to the cold; at least for a while.

Fondue 9
168 Rue Saint-Denis
75002 Paris, France

We headed on back to the apartment and took a short nap.

When we woke; it was "tea time" for the Missus. Time to break out the eclairs.

These were a bit too sweet for me.

The Missus, it turns out, is not a fan of crème pâtissière, the custard fillings used for eclairs.

But of course, we had to eventually try elcairs….because, when in France, right?

A Day Trip to Chantilly and Dinner at TenZen (Paris – Since Closed)

December 17, 2023 mmm-yoso France, Japanese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Paris, France, Travel

I knew that when spending two weeks in Paris, I'd need to break things up and plan some side trips, we'd already spent two evenings in Strasbourg exploring the Christmas Markets and for an encore, I thought that since we'd already done Versailles and Chartres, a nice day trip to Château de Chantilly might be fun. I'm not sure I mentioned, but Annabel Simms wonderful book, An Hour From Paris is a wonderful resource. We caught the TER, Regional Express Trains from Gare du Nord, and arrived at Chantilly Gouvieux in 25 minutes!

The Château is a couple of kilometers form the train station. Instead of following the standard signs along the road, we took the path described in the book to get to the Château, and then walked thru the village on the way back.

We loved the forested path.

It was lush and green, birds were singing, even though it was winter. The trail is clearly marked and cleared.

We even had our own "escort" for part of the walk.

You'll past the racetrack before arriving back at the main street and the Musée du Cheval.

These days, unless we're on a tour, we try not to pack too many things into our explorations. We were just going to visit the Château. On Rue du Connétable, you take the road as it curves right, becoming Route Pavée and you'll soon come to this wonderful sight.

That's Château de Chantilly. You saunter thru the gates.

Up to the ticket booth. I'd bought my tickets in advance and then the Château is yours…..to visit of course….

It's quite impressive. There are actually two château here, the Petit Château, and the Grand Château, which is where the entrance is.

We loved the statues of the dogs that "guard" the entrance to the château. The one above are named Lumineau and Seduisant and were actual pooches belonging to Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, who commissioned Augustus Cain to create these.

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The Grand Château was actually destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870's. The original structure was built in the 1500's by the Montmorency family, but eventually taken over by the Orléans family. Henri d’Orléans had the château rebuilt and that is mainly what we see today.

The Chapel of the Condé Hearts, Suites, Dining Hall and the huge Reading Room are something to see.

But beyond all of that there was one area we really wanted to see.

The Musée Condé.

Consisting of over 2500 drawings it is the second largest art collection in France next to the Louvre. You'll notice some interesting arrangement of paintings. This is because the Duke d'Aumale, who bequeathed this to France, had some conditions, one being that the collection be shown in it's original location; the works cannot be moved, nor can any of the works be loaned out. So, if you want to see these works by Raphael you'll have to come here.

For some reason, we enjoyed our visit here much more than Versailles.

Perhaps it was the lack of crowds or the atmosphere……we kind of enjoyed the peacefulness.

Yes, it's not a palace, but it is quite stunning in its own way.

After our visit, we headed back to the train station via the village of Chantilly. It was getting close to our designated train time, so we quickly grabbed a sandwich and caught our train back to Paris.

After the full morning, we rested up, before heading to dinner. I had read about a small tempura restaurant located under the quite popular Zen Restaurant in the 1st Arrondissment. This little 12 seat underground restaurant was named TenZen and featured a multi-course meal featuring…well tempura of course. Staying in Paris for the length of time of our visit, meant we could really "eat like we would at home", which meant…well, Chinese and Japanese cuisine. Sadly, TenZen closed mid-2023, but I thought you might enjoy the photos.

Zen restaurant is a bustling shop in the area of Paris we call "Little Tokyo". You enter the restaurant, show the hostess the reservation and were guided downstairs.

This was the realm of chef Jiro Kondo. He does all the cooking.